Own the group chat with The Weekender, highlighting the biggest stories in college sports, standout writing from Eleven Warriors, and a glance at what's next.
Coming soon: Full stadiums
After a year of sporting events played in front of no fans or limited-capacity crowds, full stadiums will soon be returning to the state of Ohio.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that all public health orders in place for the COVID-19 pandemic will be lifted on June 2, which means the sporting event capacity restrictions that have been in effect for over a year will end on that date. And the MLB’s Cincinnati Reds have already announced that Great American Ball Park will return to full capacity on that date.
The Reds announced that Great American Ball Park will return to 100 percent capacity on June 2. As of that date, "masks will be recommended but no longer mandated to be worn at Great American Ball Park."
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) May 14, 2021
Ohio State hasn’t yet made any decisions about what the capacity at Ohio Stadium will be this fall, but athletic director Gene Smith said Thursday that he is hopeful the Shoe will be full when the Buckeyes host Oregon in their home opener on Sept. 11.
“We’re hopefully going to have an opportunity to be at 100% capacity, but we’re going to work with (Columbus Public Health commissioner) Dr. Mysheika Roberts locally, like we’ve always done, and see where we are when we get to August,” Smith said. “We just have to wait and see, but that’s our goal, is to get to that point. So hopefully that happens.”
New commissioners support CFP expansion
Until recently, it was rare to hear the power brokers of college sports publicly advocate for expanding the College Football Playoff beyond four teams. In the past week, however, both of the new commissioners in the Power 5 have said on the record that they support increasing the size of the playoff field.
New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff directly said so during his introductory press conference on Thursday, saying “The Pac-12 is in favor of expansion of the College Football Playoff.” New ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has taken a more restrained approach, saying he is “not against it but I want to have a conversation and I want to do it really thoughtfully.”
It sounds like Kliavkoff will push for expansion to happen more quickly than Phillips will, but they’ll both be involved in the conversations as the CFP Management Committee continues to discuss expansion models as it did this spring.
Ohio State throwers break Big Ten records
A pair of throwers from Ohio State’s women’s track and field team broke Big Ten championship records on their way to winning individual conference titles on Friday and Saturday.
Sade Olatoye won the seventh Big Ten title of her illustrious Ohio State career – a school record for a field athlete – on Friday, when she set a meet record with a winning toss of 226 feet in the hammer throw.
Sade Olatoye is your 2021 Big Ten champion in the hammer. She won her second Big Ten outdoor crown and her seventh overall Big Ten title with this Big Ten championship record throw of 68.9m / 226-0. Congratulations, Sade!! pic.twitter.com/nzykIwTB7K
— Ohio State T&F/XC (@OhioStateTFXC) May 14, 2021
Sade Olatoye now has seven Big Ten Conference championships. The "Sade Seven": four Big Ten shot put titles (indoors in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and outdoors in 2017), two weight throw titles (2017 and 2019) and now the hammer title in a Big Ten championships record. pic.twitter.com/NhIZRBV7fT
— Ohio State T&F/XC (@OhioStateTFXC) May 15, 2021
Adelaide Aquilla, who already won the indoor national title in the shot put earlier this year, won the outdoor Big Ten title in the shot put on Saturday with a throw of 62 feet, 8 3/4 inches that is both the farthest shot put throw in Big Ten championship history and the best in the nation this year.
Wonderful, wonderful news from the shot put area: Adelaide Aquilla broke the Big Ten championships record twice during the competition to win with a school-record and nation's-leading throw of 19.12m / 62-8 3/4 ... topping her own school mark by nearly three feet! pic.twitter.com/5O7IGCowIN
— Ohio State T&F/XC (@OhioStateTFXC) May 16, 2021
ICYMI
Film Study: Forget Run/Pass Options, Ohio State Has Begun Experimenting with Pass/Pass Options
Yes, pass/pass options are actually a real thing. Kyle Jones explains the concept.
Heat Check: Ohio State's 2022 Class is Heating Up With Two New Commitments and a Wild Month on the Horizon
Andrew Ellis ranks Ohio State’s top 11 remaining targets for the recruiting class of 2022.
The Case For Sevyn Banks Being Ohio State’s Most Important Defensive Player Of The 2021 Season
The first-round NFL draft projections for Banks might be a stretch right now, but Ohio State’s pass defense might need him to be that kind of player this season. Colin Hass-Hill explains why.
Up Next
- Monday, May 17: Ohio State men’s tennis plays TCU in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16
- Monday-Wednesday, May 17-19: Ohio State men’s golf plays in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional
- Friday-Sunday, May 22-24: Ohio State baseball plays two games each against Nebraska and Indiana in Bloomington
- Thursday, Sept. 2: Ohio State football opens its 2021 season at Minnesota
- Saturday, Sept. 11: Ohio State football hosts Oregon in its 2021 home opener
- Saturday, Nov. 27: Ohio State plays Michigan in The Game
